Group blasts govt. for ineffective approach to help Typhoon Yolanda survivors

A local research institution has slammed government for failing to take up measures that will lead to the genuine recovery of the Typhoon Yolanda-hit Visayas region including its agricultural sector, a main source of livelihood for some of its residents.

“Agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood in the Eastern Visayas, has continually contracted post-Yolanda,” non-government organization IBON Foundation said in a Thursday statement.

Although the region saw a boost in poultry and fishery production last year, IBON pegged this growth as insufficient in helping the region recover to pre-disaster levels.

“The region still fell short of the national growth target by 38 percent,” the research development group added, noting that production of crops such as palay, corn, coconut, abaca, sugarcane and banana have been steadily on a decline.

“This is because the Philippine government’s approach to recovery and rehabilitation and its measurement of success has been based on an erroneous neoliberal framework that prioritizes big business interests over the needs and interests of disaster-affected communities,” the group said.